Space and Physics
PUBLISHED
7
Over the last few days, Twitter has become heavily invested in solving a small science problem: how to get one woman's bowls unstuck.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.Chi Nguyễn stacked two bowls while doing the dishes, and the bowls became lodged together. After two days of trying to unstick them, she appealed to Twitter to help her with the problem of how to remove the smaller bowl without smashing both into pieces.
Now, there are a number of physics tricks you can try (other than brute strength) in order to separate bowls or glasses that have become stuck together. The simplest is to place cold liquid into the top bowl while warming up the lower one. The cool water will cause the top bowl to contract, while the warm water causes the bottom bowl to enlarge. Be careful to not go too extreme, as very cold water or ice, or very hot liquid, can lead to the bowls or glasses shattering.
Once the bowls have cooled down or heated up sufficiently, it is usually enough to be able to pull apart the glasses or bowls. Usually.
Chi tried just about all "hacks" that are available on the Internet, including good old-fashioned WD-40, oil, aggressive shaking, and passive-aggressive comments directed at both bowls. The bowls, defying all physics, remain stuck.
There are few options left, including placing a drinking straw between the two bowls and blowing hard, and choosing the favorite bowl and smashing the other one with a hammer.
Chi has gone quiet since the last update, though the internet remains heavily invested in the outcome, which at this point seems like accepting that the two bowls are stuck together for all time.
